Listen live

Video 3:22
Division within Middle East camps

Israeli and Palestinian officials cannot agree even within their own groups on how to proceed with peace talks and are sceptical that any progress can be made.

Transcript

STEVE CANNANE, PRESENTER: The Israeli cabinet is sorting through deep internal divisions ahead of planned peace talks with the Palestinians.

The United States is hoping to host negotiators from each side in an effort to restart talks on securing a two-state solution to the conflict.

The Israeli Prime Minister officially supports a two-state solution, but many in his own party are considering it to be a pipe dream.

The Palestinians are also struggling with their own internal divisions, as Middle East correspondent Matt Brown reports.

MATT BROWN, REPORTER: In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, it's business as usual.

On the very land they hope to call a state, Palestinians find work helping construct Israeli settlements, considered illegal under international law. The chief executive of Eli settlement, Amiad Cohen, says in such peaceful times there's no need for negotiations.

AMIAD COHEN, ELI SETTLER: People like to dream, most of them, the Americans, the Europeans and my brothers in Tel Aviv, like to dream. Dreaming is good, but your dream has to be connected to reality. And unfortunately, with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, it's not connected to reality.

MATT BROWN: Most settlers here believe Israel should keep all the land conquered in 1967, and in any case, the Palestinians won't accept a reasonable offer.

AMIAD COHEN: I see, I understand that Binyamin Netanyahu doesn't believe in this negotiation. He knows the facts, he knows the reason why not to negotiate with them. But he has American pressure, European pressure.

MATT BROWN: Those seeking a peace deal face strong pressure from within their own camps.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (voiceover translation): The negotiations will not be easy, but we are entering them with integrity and frankness with the hope that this process will be handled responsibly.

MATT BROWN: Israel's cabinet is deeply divided.

YISRAEL KATZ, ISRAELI TRANSPORT MINISTER (voiceover translation): I'm against a Palestinian state. I don't agree with the release of terrorists in the event that comes up later.

MATT BROWN: The Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin's taken to Facebook declaring, "I remain faithful to the official Likud Central Committee position that is opposed to a Palestinian state."

And like the Israelis, the Palestinians don't agree on how to proceed.

NABIL ABU RDAINEH, PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT'S SPOKESMAN (voiceover translation): The American minister knows the Palestinian position: to end occupation, a Palestinian state on 1967 lands and to free all the prisoners.

MATT BROWN: Hamas, the Palestinian militants group in control of the Gaza Strip, has denounced the talks.

MUSHIR AL-MASRI, HAMAS SPOKESMAN (voiceover translation): I stress, no-one has the mandate to concede the Palestinian rights and principles.

MATT BROWN: US Secretary of State John Kerry's been pushing for fresh talks for months. Mr Kerry says the two sides are expected in Washington within about a week to seal a deal on beginning direct negotiations. The peace process is so moribund, these days, that's considered a breakthrough.

And the nay-sayers in each camp have powerful voices.

DANI DAYAN, ISRAELI PRO-SETTLEMENT ACTIVIST: This state's formula is a mirage, like a mirage in the desert. When you are thirsty in the desert, you want so much to drink water, you think that you see water in the horizon. But when you come closer, you see it was just hot air. That is exactly the two-state formula.

MATT BROWN: When the talks begin in earnest, the negotiators will have a Herculean task before them.